Chapter 1238: The Qilin Immortal
“A counterfeit dares to fight me?!” Meng Jingzhou roared, his entire body igniting with something similar to flames.
His qi and blood were so abundant that the pure yang energy he emitted set the surrounding spirit qi ablaze. Anyone who drew near him could be incinerated by the blazing pure yang aura. This was also why the Thief King didn’t dare to approach Meng Jingzhou.
Pure yang aura combustion was a phenomenon that had never been witnessed throughout history. If one had to name it, it could be called the Pure Yang Field.
On the other hand, shadow Meng Jingzhou naturally unleashed a Pure Yin Field.
Meng Jingzhou’s fist techniques were supremely tough and yang, extremely overbearing, while shadow Meng Jingzhou’s fist techniques were supremely gentle and yin, flowing like water. When yin and yang collided, it was as though the sun and moon vied for brilliance. The scene resembled a Taiji diagram, leaving onlookers in awe.
The six shadows had been grievously wounded by the Thief King, and the six former creed leaders of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed quickly secured their victory. Mu Baiyi hoped to control these corpses to assist Meng Jingzhou.
However, the pure yin and pure yang auras emanating from Meng Jingzhou’s battle were so intense that the corpses couldn’t get close. They could only observe from a distance.
Fighting against his complete opposite, Meng Jingzhou grew increasingly riled up. Old Lu has already engaged a half-immortal in combat, while I’m stuck here, held up by some trivial trick of the Balance Arbiter Divine Lord.
Whatever technique I execute, the other party counters with the exact opposite.
“I refuse to believe this!” Meng Jingzhou hardened his resolve and stripped off his shirt, deciding to go all out.
Then he saw his counterpart begin stripping.
“You don’t have to copy this!” Furious, Meng Jingzhou smashed his opponent with his Supreme Pure Yang Dharma Manifestation, preventing his shadow from undressing further.
While the crowd watched Meng Jingzhou’s intense battle, a figure suddenly appeared on the edge of the altar and stepped onto it, preparing to uproot the sapling along with the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit.
“Who goes there?!” Mu Baiyi was the first to notice the commotion. With a bellow, he commanded the six Transcendent Tribulation creed leader corpses to strike, blasting the figure with their respective ultimate techniques.
Right after attacking, Mu Baiyi regretted it. The figure was too close to the sapling.
However, to Mu Baiyi’s astonishment, when the smoke cleared, both the figure and the sapling were unscathed.
How did he do that?
“I am the Survival of the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord, serving under the Midheaven Emperor-Lord. You may also call me the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord.”
Man Gu was startled. The Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord is the last of the Four Great Divine Lords of Great Qian. Did Great Qian actually dispatch two of their divine lords to Fengdu City?
It’s said that the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord’s Survival of the Fittest Incipient Dao Fruit was condensed through faith power, making him less talented than the Balance Arbiter Divine Lord. But due to the special properties of his Incipient Dao Fruit, no one is willing to exchange blows with him.
It’ll be very difficult to harm him with the same attack a second time.
When fighting him, one must employ a different technique with every single blow.
“I’ll be taking this Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit then. No need to see me off. I know the way.” The Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord flashed a smile, revealing eight pearly white teeth. With that, he hoisted the sapling onto his shoulder and bolted.
By the time Mu Baiyi reached the altar, the other party had already vanished without a trace.
Humming a tune, the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord departed Fengdu City and arrived in Zhongshan Commandery.
He headed to a teahouse in the commandery. It was now deserted, save for a single patron on the topmost floor who hadn’t been transported away.
That patron was observing the battle between Lu Yang and the Balance Arbiter Divine Lord. He never expected the latter to be so pathetic, overwhelmed by a cultivator from a later age.
“This kid called Lu Yang does have a certain peculiarity about him.”
The Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord lowered his head and cupped his fists. “Reporting to the Emperor-Lord, the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit has been retrieved.”
“Oh?” The Midheaven Emperor-Lord stopped observing the battle.
The outcome of the battle between Lu Yang and the Balance Arbiter Divine Lord was inconsequential. With the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit secured, the purpose of this trip had been fulfilled.
“So this is the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit that, upon consumption, grants another lifetime even after one perishes?” The Midheaven Emperor-Lord revealed a rare smile.
As the emperor who had founded the Great Qian Dynasty and ruled the world, the Midheaven Emperor-Lord possessed countless rare treasures, yet none of them were as valuable as this Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit.
He had arrived in Zhongshan Commandery long ago to wait for the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit to ripen. The reason he hadn’t claimed it in person was the psychological trauma from when he was in the Extreme North. He was worried that Yun Zhi might suddenly appear, so he had sent the Balance Arbiter Divine Lord and the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord instead.
The Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit is now in my hands, but Yun Zhi still hasn’t appeared. Looks like I worried for nothing.
“Emperor-Lord, is this Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit really so miraculous? Why haven’t I ever heard of such a thing before?” the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord asked curiously.
“How could it be fake? This is... not something you should know.”
The Midheaven Emperor-Lord reached eagerly for the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit, only to see the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord take it back.
The Midheaven Emperor-Lord’s face instantly darkened. “Fittest Arbiter, what is the meaning of this?!”
The Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord simply smiled, and a foreign voice echoed from within his body.
“There’s no meaning. The Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit was known only to a few in the Ember Legacy Dynasty. I want to know where you learned of it!”
Boom!
“Who are you?!” the Midheaven Emperor-Lord roared. He slammed the tea table in fury, causing the teahouse to collapse.
A figure drifted out of the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord’s bracelet. He had two coral horns atop his head, red scales adorning his cheeks and the back of his hands, and eyes that resembled both a dragon and a tiger, as though he was the supreme sovereign of all demons. However, the ferocity or arrogance he once possessed was no longer in his eyes. Beneath his placid gaze lay sorrow and self-reproach.
“I am the Qilin Immortal you have been searching for all this time.”
“Qilin Immortal, you’ve been hiding inside the Fittest Arbiter’s bracelet all along!” The Midheaven Emperor-Lord was enraged.
The Fittest Arbiter’s bracelet had seemed utterly ordinary, and he had claimed it was a keepsake from his mother and had always worn it. Never would I have imagined that the Qilin Immortal was hiding inside!
“This is impossible! If you’ve been inside this bracelet all this time, why did the Immortal-Searching Token never react?”
The Immortal-Searching Token was the Midheaven Emperor-Lord’s proud invention. When any of the Four Ancient Immortals appeared nearby, it would grow hot, its temperature rising with proximity.
The Qilin Immortal smiled indifferently. “Emperor-Lord, you seem to have forgotten that my Dao Fruit is Survival of the Fittest. A technique only works on me once. I had the Fittest Arbiter bring the Immortal-Searching Token near me one time, and after that, it ceased to be effective against me.”
“Teacher.” With the Qilin Immortal’s guidance, the Fittest Arbiter Divine Lord could have condensed his Incipient Dao Fruit on his own. But if he had done that, it would have made him stand out among the divine lords, so he had chosen to condense it through faith power instead.
The Qilin Immortal took the sapling and the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit. His head transformed into its original form, and he swallowed the whole thing in a single gulp, storing it temporarily in his stomach. “Fittest Arbiter, withdraw for now.”
The Fittest Arbiter tacitly backed away. With tension thick in the air, it didn’t look like they could negotiate peacefully.
“I shall ask once more—who told you about the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit?!”
The Midheaven Emperor-Lord gnashed his teeth, his gaze fixed intently on the Qilin Immortal. He had exhausted every means to find the Four Ancient Immortals, never suspecting that one had been right beside him all along, playing him for a fool. “If I tell you, will you give me the Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit?”
“No.”
The Midheaven Emperor-Lord immediately manifested a vortex that devoured everything in its path. “Then why waste our breath? Let’s settle this with our true abilities!